Some nosy netizens had even put together a power ranking, with Hu Bin sitting firmly at the top.
So far, Hu Bin had revealed only five Pokémon in his matches: Kirlia, Dragonair, Zeraora, Lucario, and Frogadier. Nobody could guess what his remaining Pokémon was.
Opinions varied wildly online about Hu Bin's final Pokémon, with everyone dreaming up all kinds of possibilities.
But never in their wildest dreams would they have imagined that Hu Bin had more than six Pokémon!
The next morning, the front page of Spring City's local newspaper prominently featured pictures of Hu Bin and Zeraora. The headline read, "Spring City competitor Hu Bin and Mythical Pokémon Zeraora advance together to the final four of the China Pokémon League Conference!"
The newspapers sold out as soon as they hit the stands. Supply simply couldn't keep up with demand!
Everyone was eager to see just how far Hu Bin could go!
For the semifinals, every seat in the Huaxia Alliance's arena was filled. The crowd was bursting with enthusiasm, cheering on their favorite competitors.
The first match of the day was Hu Bin against Ye Han!
Both competitors were popular, but Hu Bin had more supporters!
As soon as Hu Bin appeared, the audience erupted into cheers. The fans he had recently gained had made huge posters of him and were waving them frantically, hoping their idol would notice them.
Sharp-eyed as he was, Hu Bin naturally spotted them. Delighted to see that he already had so many fans, he waved enthusiastically at them!
That gesture sent his fans into a frenzy!
Watching from the officials' platform, Hu Jiaxing was bursting with pride at how popular Hu Bin had become!
He couldn't help boasting, "That's my son for you! Look how popular he is-though he's still a little behind